LAST TIME OUTThe Gaels battled against first-place Gonzaga last week before falling to the Bulldogs, 73-65, after a competitive second half at Mckeon Pavilion. SMC turned it around on Saturday as they pulled away with a win in a high-scoring game over Pacific, 96-88. Stella Beck dominated in both games last week. Beck had a team-high 23 points over Gonzaga and set a new career high of 31 points versus Pacific.

ABOUT SAINT MARY'SThe Gaels (13-6, 6-2 WCC) split its two games last week, moving its home record to 8-2 and 6-2 in the WCC. The win over the Tigers put Saint Mary's back in second place in the conference. Saint Mary's beat BYU, 57-49, in its last meeting at home. The Gaels will compete with Portland in their first meeting of the year. Saint Mary's beat the Pilots last season, 75-65, on the road. Saint Mary's is 3-4 on the road in 2017-18.

Saint Mary's leads the conference in field goal percentage (48.5) and rebounding defense (29.9). Stella Beck (61.9), Megan McKay (60.5) and Sydney Raggio (55.3) all lead the conference with top field goal percentages. McKay averages a team-high 15.4 points per game while averaging 6.7 rebounds. Beck leads the team with 28 steals and averages 14.3 ppg. Raggio averages a team-high 8.5 rebounds per game to go with 14.2 ppg. Raggio is third in the WCC in defensive rebounding. Jasmine Forcadilla averages a team best 3.7 assists per game. Madeline Holland leads the conference with a 46.9 3-point percentage.

The Last Meeting

BYU

49

Saint Mary's

57

December 30, 2017
Moraga, Calif.

WBK | Gaels Quiet Cougars With Physical Effort
The Saint Mary's women's basketball team grabbed its first West Coast Conference win of the year Saturday with a defensive shutdown of the WCC's preseason No. 3 pick BYU, holding the Cougars to less than 50 points in a 57-49 victory at McKeon Pavilion.

ABOUT BYUThe Cougars (11-8, 6-2 WCC) took a trip to Southern California last week, beating Loyola Marymount, 67-55, but fell in a one-point game, 70-69, at San Diego. The Cougars are 7-2 at home this season.

Cassie Broadhead Devashrayee leads the conference in scoring at 19.5 ppg and leads the Cougars with 4.6 apg. Two other players average double-digit points, Brenna Chase averages 13.1 ppg and Malia Nawahine 10.4. Shalae Salmon averages a team-high 6.5 rpg. Sarah Hamson leads the conference and the team in blocked shots BYU (4.4 average per game). The Cougars are second in defensive rebounding (28.3).

ABOUT PORTLANDThe Pilots (4-15, 0-8) have not won a single game in conference. Portland started out the season with a three-game winning streak, beating Hawaii, Willamette (NCAA Division III member) and Utah Valley. Later on in the season they dominated over Warner Pacific (NAIA member), beating them 95-59. Portland is 4-9 at home.

COMING UPSaint Mary's will conclude its three-game road trip on Feb. 1 at San Francisco. The Gaels return home versus San Diego on Feb. 3. Tickets are available for purchase on SMCGaels.com or by calling the SMC Ticket Office at (925) 631-GoTx. Fans can find live coverage links for all games on SMCGaels.com.